Hidden Secrets
by SatanJewels
Summary: On his way to Gondor to see Aragorn, Frodo and company stumble upon a secret hidden at the edge of the Shire. Romance/OC
1. Default Chapter

Prelude  
  
A note. A note was all she had written. Very formal and very solemn.  
  
Dear Paldo, I'm quite sorry, but I cannot abide by this any longer. On an impulse and whim we did something that we should not. And while I always dreamed of having children, I never imagined it this way. So I leave her to you. I'm sorry I did not tell you about her before. Things were very bad for us. A half-ling cannot live in a place with Elves. Please take care of her  
  
Nessima  
  
Paldo read the letter over and over in his head, and on the paper. He stared over at the very young hobbit with such wonder. But, she wasn't a hobbit at all. She was his size of course, but her features definitely belonged to her mother. Pointed ears, and long straight blond hair, with blond hairy feet. There was nothing he could do. He kept her inside, not wanting to her to be harmed by other hobbits words. And so Paldo kept his daughter inside for most of her life, only letting her be outside when it was desperately needed and even then she was to be covered up. Paldo told neighbors that she was afflicted with a terrible illness from her mother, who had died of the disease. And some hobbits, just as men and elves, could still be mean. Some pointed and some laughed. So Paldo packed up his daughter and his home, and moved to the very edge of the Shire and only went into the town by himself.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Frodo Baggins stepped out of Bag End and into the sunshine. Smiling just slightly as the sun beat down on his face, Frodo came to check to see if there were any letters delivered to his residence. There was one letter, in a fancy envelope and embossed gold lettering on the front. Thinking it must be of some important urgance, Frodo crept back into his house and tore open the letter. Inside was a formal letter in the same embossed gold type. It was from Aragorn, King of Gondor. He requested the audience of Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin to Gondor as soon as they could arrive. There was to be some sort of ceremony, either that or some sort of emergency - Frodo couldn't be sure. He assumed that Sam, Merry and Pippin had all received the same letter and exited Bag End once more to go find his very good friend Sam.  
  
Samwise Gamgee was tending to his garden behind his house, when Frodo strolled up, knocking kindly on the gate. "Sam?" Frodo called out, "Sam it's me Frodo. I've gotten a letter from Aragorn, I was curious if you had receieved one as well."  
  
Looking up from his garden, Sam beamed. He dusted his dirty hands off onto his pants and walked over to his friend. "Ah Mr Frodo, it's lovely to see you. A letter from Aragorn you say? No why I don't think I've gotten one, although I've not checked to see if any letters had come at all today. Perhaps we should go look? What does Aragorn want?"  
  
Both Sam and Frodo ventured to the front of the house and Sam began to wash his hands off. "Well he requests to see us and Merry and Pippin," Frodo began. "He doesn't quite say what it's about other then it's of great importance and it's not bad news."  
  
Giving a small nod, Sam dried off his hands and went out to see if there's a letter for him. Sure enough, there was the same letter, only addressed to Samwise Gamgee and not Frodo Baggins. The envelopes and type were exactly the same. Tearing open the letter, Sam read it quickly and nodded. "That's what mine says too" He finally told Frodo. "If I got one, and you got one, then I'm sure Pippin 'n Merry've gotten one as well. Shall we go see them? Perhaps bring some lunch. It could be an outing of the day and we could discuss what all this might mean."  
  
"Ah that would be splendid Sam. You wash up and change and I'll go back to Bag End to grab some food. Come meet me over at home when you're finished and we'll walk over to Pippins from there alright?" Frodo requested. Sam only gave a small nod and a huge grin and went back inside the house.  
  
Heading back to Bag End, Frodo quickly gathered the necessities for any kind of trip or picnic to Buckland. He grabbed meats and breads, and water and even some pastries in case they might miss a teatime or two. Frodo was still gathering these things when Sam knocked on the door. "Come in!" Frodo called and Sam entered, all clean and ready to go. Several minutes later, the two were off towards Pippins house.  
  
Arriving at Pippin's house eventually, they came to find out that he indeed did recieve a letter from Aragorn as well. Without much discussion, he joined Frodo and Sam on a trip to Merry's house so they could all sit together and talk about this. It was quite late in the evening when they finally arrived to Merry's house. He too had recieved a letter from the King of Gondor. The four decided to sit outside among the stars and discuss the possibilities of either going or refusing the invitation.  
  
"Well I certainly would love to see ol Aragorn." Pippin chimed in. "Sure there're things to do around the house n such but as long as we tell people where we're going this time, I don't think anyone should rather miss us much at all."  
  
"I agree with Pippin," Merry replied. "If he's requested a visit from us it must be important. And he says it's not bad news, but I imagine it would be difficult to put bad news into a letter, not knowing who might read it."  
  
Frodo nodded, "Yes I'm quite curious as to what's happened to Gondor. And who knows, he might've invited Legolas or Gimli as well. And I admit, even though I said I wanted to return to the Shire very much, part of me still longs for being out into the world."  
  
"Well then it's settled," Sam piped up, "We'll head to Gondor in a day or two. Tomorrow we'll send a letter that we're coming that should hopefully get there before we will. It'll take us a couple of weeks of course, but I too am dying to know what's been going on."  
  
The four nodded then, all coming to an agreement. In several days they would make their long trip out of the Shire and into Gondor. Hopefully this trip would be much more favorable then their last. 


	2. Mysterious Stranger

Chapter 2  
  
Frodo sent word to Aragorn that he and the other four hobbits would be travelling to Gondor within the next couple of days. The four packed and planned their trip as precisely as they could. This time, they would be ready for anything that this trip would bring them. Several days after Frodo had sent the letter, he, Merry, Pippin and Sam started out of Bag End towards the end of the Shire. Getting to the edge of the Shire took several days, but was fairly uneventful. They sat and talked, and ate as all hobbits do. And at night they slept out among the stars if the weather was good enough, or indoors when the weather wasn't as nice. Soon they came to the edge of the Shire, and what was there hadn't been there the last time they had set out that way.  
  
There upon the outskirts of the Shire, sat a tiny smial. It was very quaint and quite a ways from anyone at all. In fact, the hobbits hadn't seen anyone else at all for the past day. As they approached closer to the house, Merry questioned whether or not they should knock on the door and ask for safe keeping for the night. It looked like it was going to rain, and almost time for sleep. The rest agreed, and although Frodo had reservations - he never said a word to the other three. Merry was nominated to be the one to ask for shelter. Merry made his way to the door of the Smial and knocked on it. An elderly hobbit, probably around Bilbo's age, or somewhat younger answered the door. He had glasses perched upon his nose, and wore a simple pair of trouses, and a white blouse. Taking off his glasses to see what was at his door, he questioned what these hobbits were doing so far from the main part of the Shire, and what they wanted.  
  
Merry explained to the elderly hobbit that they were on their way to Gondor on official business and needed a place to stay if it decided to rain for the night. The old man's expression turned to a sour one and shook his head. "I'm quite sorry," the elderly man began, "But I've not got the room at all. I'm here all by myself and it's rather a small house. You're welcome to stay just outside though, if you think that might give you some protection instead of being on the road."  
  
Merry looked like he wanted to protest, but the elderly hobbit at once closed the door on Merry's face. Looking slightly dejected he wandered back to his friends. He told them what the hobbit said and about his offer to stay outside and off the road. Thinking this was better then sleeping on the road, they made their camp just outside the Smial in the middle of nowhere. Soon after eating and getting ready for bed, all the hobbits fell asleep. Thankfully, rain did not in fact come to them that night.  
  
Early the next morning, before any of the other hobbits had awakened, Frodo sat up and looked around. Something had awoken him, some noise or somesuch. He looked around at the others, noting that they had not awoke to the noise. Frodo stood up and looked more carefully around the house, when he heard the noise again. It sounded like a woman crying. But surely he was hearing things. There were no women around here, he thought surely. 'Didn't Merry say that the old hobbit was all alone?' Frodo thought. Peeping very quietly around one of the large bushes in the front of the house, Frodo spied a cloaked figure who was indeed weeping. He wanted to draw closer, but did not for fear of risking his hiding spot. At first Frodo thought that the cloaked figure was just the elderly man and perhaps that he just had a girlish voice although Merry had not said anything about that.  
  
He stood there looking at the figure for quite some time, wondering if he should go over to see what was the matter. And then a gasp caught in his throat. The cloaked figure put down the hood and revealed the back of the hobbit. But this was no ordinary hobbit - for the hobbit had long blond hair and was wearing a dress. He peered curiously, wondering if he was indeed beholding a female hobbit with blond hair. Those were indeed quite rare, quite rare indeed. The gasp however alerted the mysterious hobbit to his presence and she turned around. It was indeed a girl, but Frodo wanted to see no more. He turned around quickly and fled back as quietly as he could to the camp site. But something bugged him in the back of his head. Did that hobbit have pointy ears?  
  
As he got back to the camp site, he looked backwards. No one was following him and he let out a sigh of relief. "And what exactly were you doing, Frodo?" A voice peeped up behind him. Turning he saw it was Pippin, and the only one awake.  
  
"Oh Pippin it was you. Do you remember Merry saying that the old hobbit said it was just him living here by himself?" Frodo asked.  
  
Pippin thought about this for a moment and then nodded. "I think so..why? What *were* you doing Frodo?" he asked again.  
  
Frodo shook his head, "Oh I just..thought I heard a noise and I went to go investigate. It had awoken me. And I found ..well there was someone on the side of the house, but they didn't seem to see me. And they were crying. I thought it was the old man, but then the hobbit pulled down the hood and it was a girl with long blond hair. Doesn't that just seem weird to you Pip?"  
  
Pippin blinked in surprise "A girl hobbit? Blond hair? Wow Frodo..is she good looking?" he winked at Frodo and smirked. "I guess it's a little weird, but it's probably just his daughter. And he didn't want us in his home..so he told us some whopper. It wouldn't be the first time. Just forget it Frodo..we should get up and get moving."  
  
Frodo nodded absently and turned to look behind him once more. Yes, he should just forget about the mysterious figure. He and Pippin awoke the other two sleeping hobbits and soon they were on their way again towards Gondor and onto the promise of a new day and a new start. But something was bugging him. The mysterious girl. He was sure he had seen pointed ears. But she was small..with blond hair. He tried to shrug the thought of her off, but it did not come easily. 


	3. A glimpse in the night

Chapter 3  
  
Indeed the hobbits were gone several weeks at Gondor. They arrived with a royal welcoming, and departed in the same way. Aragorn had called for them because Legolas had fallen mysteriously ill. But that was another story left for another time, and Legolas was fine and well several weeks later. After several weeks on the beaten path, Pippin, Frodo, Sam and Merry all came to the edge of the Shire and the quiet mysterious house they had left months ago. Nothing really had changed about the house, and there was no sign of the mysterious stranger that Frodo had seen on the side.  
  
The whole time they had been in Gondor, Frodo's mind had only been half there. He couldn't get the long blond hair out of his mind, or the extremely elf-like ears out of his mind. And walking past the house only brought the questions back to the fore-front. He just had to know what was going on. "What do you all say we stay here again like we did last time?" Frodo asked casually to his mates.  
  
After much contemplating, they all agreed to ask the permission of the older hobbit to stay the night once more. This time it was Frodo who knocked upon the door. Sure enough, the elderly hobbit came to the door once more. "Aye...well if it isn't the buncha hobbits who were on their way outta the Shire not too long ago...What can I do fer ye?" he asked.  
  
Frodo explained their situation for a second time and the hobbit agreed to let them stay where they had stayed before. Frodo thanked him and went to join the others, helping to settle down for the night. Around nightfall, the four hobbits drifted into sleep. Well most of them, for Frodo was only half asleep - the thoughts of the mysterious hobbit keeping him awake.  
  
Sometime in the night, Frodo awakened with a start. It was nowhere near morning for it was still completely dark and there were no birds singing. Again something moved in the night. Slowly Frodo realized it was a door creaking shut. Knowing there was only one door in the area, Frodo sat up, trying to see who or what was coming out of the old house. All he could make out was a small hooded and cloaked thing. His eyes lit up...The mysterious hobbit!  
  
Frodo got to his feet as quiet as he possibly could as the cloaked figure took off down the path and as quiet as he could, Frodo followed. Always being the one for curiousity and adventure, he noticed that the cloaked figure looked somewhat distressed. It would look over it's shoulder from time to time, making Frodo have to hide behind a tree.  
  
He was hiding behind a tree when he got the shock of his life. No longer looking at the road, something jumped upon Frodo's back, wrestling him to the ground. He let out a little yelp as he was knocked to the ground. He could barely see, but he realized that the cloaked figure was on top of him. He fought back, struggling against someone who was almost too strong for him. He could not see the figure's face as hard as he tried. Soon he had the upper advantage and pinned down the figure with his own body weight.  
  
"What in blazes are you doing?!" Frodo whispered fiercely into the night.  
  
"What am *I* doing? What are you doing following me?" A soft whisper, equally as mad whispered back into the night.  
  
Frodo could still not see the face in the darkness, especially with the cloak on. "I saw you.." he admitted.  
  
The figure immediately tried to struggle once more, but Frodo pinned it down completely. "What did you see?" The mystery seethed.  
  
"I saw that you have blond hair..and pointed ears...What kind of hobbit has blond hair?" Frodo demanded back.  
  
"It's none of your business!" It practically yelled back and gave one hard shove in Frodo's direction, sending him sprawling into the dirt.  
  
At once the figure was up and moving, but Frodo grabbed a hold of the bottom of the cloak. This made the cloak shrink back some and the hood fell off the figure's head, revealing what was underneath. What was underneath made Frodo gasp. He had only seen a glance before, but this was a whole lot closer. And even though it was dark out, he could make out that it was indeed a hobbit. Or something like a hobbit. It turned out to be a girl, and in fact did have amazingly long very blond hair. And the ears were indeed very pointy. Blond hair even graced the bottom of the girls feet like a hobbit. But that's where the hobbit likeness stopped. She was really no taller then Frodo, but she had a radiant face even in the night. Her skin was smooth and pure and her eyes were light. She looked like she had been touched by an angel and Frodo longed to reach out and touch her skin to see if it was as smooth as it looked, or possibly because he thought she might disappear before him.  
  
Taking this long look at her seemed like an eternity for Frodo, who gave a soft gasp. But in reality, as soon as the hood came off the girl, she shrank back as if in horror. Giving a mad grunt, she pulled the hood back over her head and then ran as fast as she could, taking off into the night. She reminded Frodo of something, but what? The way she moved down the road she looked like a short Ringwraith. Frodo shuddered. No that could not be it. And he did not follow after her, for he now knew what she had reminded him of.  
  
An elf. More specifically a shorter and much younger version of the Lady of the Wood. 


	4. The Book

Chapter 4  
  
..Several weeks later...  
  
Frodo and the rest of the hobbits had returned back to their home without anymore delay. One by one the hobbits were dropped off to their front door until Frodo was saying goodbye to Sam. During the days home, Frodo never said a word about the hobbit with the golden hair. He was quite intrigued but could think of no possible explanation to go back that way. They would want to know why, and Frodo couldn't bring himself to tell them the truth. They might think him mad, seeing secret hobbits with blond hair and ears like an elf. But one thing was for certain, Frodo was determined to get to the bottom of this.  
  
When he arrived at Bag End the first thing he did was go through all of Bilbo's books. He thought perhaps that one of them might say something about the stranger he met in the woods several days before. Anytime he could spare, he spent pouring over the books. For many days he did not even go outside, utterly fascinated by the girl's presence. But alas Frodo found nothing.  
  
One night Sam had come over to bring Frodo some groceries from the market. "Mister Frodo," Sam began, "I don't mean to be gettin into your personal life, but you've been spending an awful lot of time in here. And everytime I'm over here you're readin one of them books. What exactly *are* you looking for Mister Frodo?" he asked.  
  
Frodo pondered telling Sam the truth, but wasn't sure if he should chance it. At least until he got some proof of the girl's existance. "I'm just going over Bilbo's things..making sure there's nothing of urgance in them." He replied eventually. Sam was right though, he was spending far too much time inside and needed to get some air. "You're quite right Sam.. I've been in here far too long..let's take a long walk shall we?" Frodo asked Sam and put down his book on the table. As he got up, the page he had been looking at blew over to the next page. On the page was a picture of a small hobbit and a beautiful elf and a caption in elvish that said that the two had been in love. But Frodo never saw that, for he and Sam went out the door and onto their walk.  
  
When Frodo arrived back to Bag End, he decided to leave his books alone for a while and went to bed. Completely ignoring the book on the table, Frodo went to sleep and for several more weeks never looked at the book on his table. And soon, the thought of the mysterious girl finally escaped his mind.  
  
As it happened, Frodo was inside one sunny afternoon, trying to get something from the top of a cabinet, when he took a stumble and fell backwards onto the table which held the book. As Frodo fell to the floor, the book landed beside hi still open up to the page which the hobbit and elf who looked very much in love. Frodo rubbed his head since he hit it on the table and looked down at the page before him. Eyeing it curiously he picked it up and began to read. It did not say much, however it did say that there was a rumor of sorts that had gone on long ago of a hobbit and an elf who fell madly in love with each other. People did not think kindly of the match from either side, and so when the woman had gotten pregnant, she was forced to leave the hobbit she loved and into exile to have her baby. And that was all the book said.  
  
Frodo reread the pages many times, trying to make some sense of all the events that had happened. And suddenly the mysterious hobbit came to him again and Frodo had a thought. It would make sense, since he saw a hobbit, but with features of an elf. Perhaps the old story was true, and he had run into the first and only half hobbit-half elf in all of Middle Earth. However the book did not explain how the mysterious hobbit got from a place of exile to the Shire with the old hobbit. Unless the old hobbit was her father. Frodo hmm'd as he held the book, those thoughts running through his head. Of course he could be entirely mistaken. He had no idea how old this hobbit was supposed to be, or when the events in the book took place. Closing the book but keeping the page's place he got up off the floor and put the book on the table. There was only one thing to do, and that was to find out what was going on. He must return to the small house at the end and confront the mysterious hobbit. And this time, he would inform Sam and the rest.  
  
The next day, Sam came to see Frodo as he often did during tea time. Ever since their trip back from Mordor, Sam came to check on Frodo a bit more then he used to. He worried about his friend very much. He wished Frodo would settle down with a nice hobbit who could take care of him as he properly should. Sam was only counting the days until he got to marry Rose Cotton. What a fine day that would be. Sam was thinking all these things as he came into Bag End with a small picnic basket. "Oh Mister Frodo...It's I, Sam..I've come to have tea..." he trailed off.  
  
Mr Baggins was busy packing a small satchel as if he were planning on going somewhere. Turning as he heard the door open Frodo peered over at Sam. "Oh Sam, thank goodness you've come."  
  
"What exactly are you doing Mister Frodo?" Sam asked, setting the basket down on the table and walking over towards Frodo.  
  
Frodo excitedly grabbed the book that was next to him and opened it. He showed Sam the same page that he read the night before. Sam read over the page carefully, seeming to get the gist of it. "What in sam's hill does this have to do with anything?" Sam asked.  
  
"I think I've found it...er, her." Frodo replied.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"You remember that small shack on the edge of the Shire where the old man wouldn't let us stay in his house? I think that's him.. The hobbit in the picture. I saw her Sam..the blond hobbit. Long blond hair like an elf, and pointed ears as well.."  
  
Sam looked very baffled and shook his head to try and clear it. "I don't think I understand... Why are you packing your things..... Oh Mister Frodo, please don't tell me you're going to go find out if this girl you saw is the girl from in this story. It's just a *story* Mister Frodo..Bilbo must have heard it on one of his travels."  
  
Frodo sighed. He knew that Sam wouldn't get it. "I can't help it Sam. I haven't been able to stop thinking about what happened. And I must find out. You're right, I'm going to see what I can find out. And you're welcome to come, and I can explain everything to you then but I feel I must leave right now if I'm to get anywhere before it gets dark." he told Sam in a bit of a rush.  
  
"You know I don't like you going places alone Mister Frodo." Sam replied "I don't understand this at all and I bet it's wild goosechase, but...I'll go with you. When you're done we'll have to run to my house so I can get some things, but then we can be off."  
  
Frodo beamed at his best friend and put a hand on his shoulder "Thank you Sam.. This means alot to me. That you don't think I'm...well crazy."  
  
Sam shook his head as if to say 'no of course not.' but never said a word. Frodo grabbed up the rest of his satchel and then grabbed Sam by the hand. "Alright..well..let's be off." and the two wandered off to Sam's house to get provisions on yet another journey to the edge of the Shire. 


End file.
